Apparatus for forming annular blanks for the manufacture of rubber tubes



Jan. 5, 1926. 1,568,820

c. F. FENLASQN. JR- APPARATUS FOR FORMINCr ANNULAR BLANKS FOR THEMANUFACTURE F RUBBER TUBES Filed Oct. 20, 9/24 2 Sheets-Sheet l jPatented Jan. 5', 1926.

'cuantas F. EENLAso-N, JR.,0F.MALONE, Nn'wsroan, assrofnoavoFioNE-,FOURTHTO Hanny o. WILDER AND.. oran-FOUMH ToLEwrs r. Liar-1B,Bouclier MALONE, NEW

YORK..

ABBA-minus non lroaivrrrra ANNULAR r Application mea october 2o, 1924.

Bel'it lrnownl that I, CHAnLns F. FnNLi-ison, Jr., a citizen oftheUnited `States of America, of Malone, in the county of Franklin, in theState of New York,-` have inventednew' and useful Improvements inApparatus for Forming Annular Blanks forithe1ManufactureIol RubberTubes, of which the following, taken .in connectionWithjtheraceornpanymg drawings,1 is a ful-l, i

clear', and exact description. t

This invention relates to' `certain new aml` improved a? paratus for"frrninge` annu-lar blanks lforte.mannfa'cture ot rubber Vtubes andithejlike. l v The usual method-employedorproducing an: annular blankolf `rubber ofthe de-,

sired numberfr opliest and trom two of'- which. blanks; a biscuit ortube is `formed for subsequentlvulcanization, has ordinarily attendance:with the number of' plies reqluiredfltofproducey a blank ot the desiredtiickness. In View of the fact thatV the ,rrain of 'thev rubber sheetruns lengthwise ofltlae sheet, a washer. out from sucha sheetl has anuneven nonfuniform shrinkage for 'the reason .that the grain does `notrun uniformly lengthwise otthe strip constitrilling the produced,washer.`

Eor1-tliis-.reason in order to maintain an approximate uniformity. inthe washer, a stri'r of *fabric is rolled upon 'one side oi" theArubber" sheetl when: the latter is being produced and this fabricremains upon the lwasl'rer when :the latter-is cut from the strip and`must bei, removed before the rubber f washers are placed "one uponanother to forni an, .amrularblanlc oft tireV proper thicli ness; foryinstan four toutwelre-ply. l Further, .there-.- good deal of wasteserapf-ifnroduced by. the: usualprodess as described, .and not'onlyoirilib'ber.,l but of the alarieito Wlficlrthe rubber is' united.`

The lnainiohljiect otthisini-fention is the `pracvliuition .offra,inacmmjby' menne of which PATENT oFFloF..

BLANKs B0B THEMANUFACTUBE oF RUBBER TUBES.

serial No. 744,792;

a more eiifectiif'eanddesirable blank can be produced containing stock11i-better cendition` and stronger'and `of more even gauge,

and to effect that result with economy oit labor and material` t @theirobjects andadvantages relate to the details of the structure ofthemachine, and to the' parts thereof, all as? will more 4ful-ly appearfrom the followingfdescripf tion, lvtaken iii-connection with theaccoml'ianying drawings, in which Figure lfis a topplan viewo a machineof myinvention.

Figure 2V is a section online 2-2,` Figtially circular form, andincludes an inter-V nal ychamber for the reception of steam goed to heatthe plate. The plate *A is` urther adapted to rotate around the bearing-34- Inounted 'in the ournal 2 and Aupon theringlofball-bearings aradaranged Abetween the lower surface ofthe t plate `tand the frame -l-. Theoppositie ring` retainersfor the balls -5- may be mounted respectivelyupon the plate free-iis free to rotate with little friction whendriven-by the gear -G-meshing with the outer portion of the lowersurface oi? the hollow plate in addition,- uw am@ i; mandes 'a a journalfor receiving the hollow l bearing --10#- proj-ectingl'fromsubstantially t'he"cent.1alportion'of a second hollow lil() plate-11+,the thrust'of the plate @114- agrainst the=bearing M9. beingtaken'` bysuitable ballbea1'ings -12- as vindicated. V

The hollow 'plate 1l-f ispreferably of substantially circular form andcontains an internal chamber for the reception of steam as through pipe13 secured in the hollow bearing -l0-- by packed joint 8l- Gear itisprovided for driving the plate 11 and for this purpose is mounted on andsecured to the bearing` l0- and is adapted to mesh with idler -lwhich inturn meshes with gear -l6- on shaft -l7- carrying pinion 18- meshingwith gear .-7- upon the hollow-plate *Llso that as the hollow plate isdriven by the pin -6- the plate will in turn drive the pin -18- andthereby transfer rotary movement to the hollow plate -ll*.

Obviously other methods of effecting propel' drive of the parts may beutilized in substitution for those here shown. The pipe -19- asindicated, is adapted to supply steam to the chamber in the hollow plate-4-, and as illustrated, extends into the hollow bearing -3- and isconnected thereto by packed oint --20-. Valves may be provided wheredesired for independently controlling the flow of steam or cold water tothe plates as the valve -21- controllingthe flow of steam to the hollowplate -lland valve -22- controllinr the tiow of steam to thehollow-plate -A- are each fed from a common source of supply.

rlhe brackets 2S- and w-24- rising from opposite sides of the base-linclude guideways for the reception of the sliding journals *25- and-26- in which the shaft -27- is mounted, and these journals are normallyheld at their limit of move-- ment in a downward direction by springs-28- and -29- placed under tension by the adjustable blocks -30` and 3l-Upon the shaft -27- there is mounted a suitable calender or roller -32-of desired diameter, and of desired length, and this roller is adaptedto cooperate with the heatable plate -Ll in the production of a .curvedstrip of rubber upon the surface of the plate -el which curved strip ofrubber is carried over roll -38- and then over the roll 3standdownwardly around the roll between the heated plate -i'lmand the rollwhereby the curved strip is applied in ring or washer form to the faceof the heated plate -lland the operation is continued until a desirednumber of plies of the curved strip se formed have been applied to theface of the plate -11-.

The machine is further provided with adjustable spaced guides 35- and--36- at the front of the roll -32- and between which guides the cruderubber is adapted to be fed in producing the curved strip of rubber uponthe plate -1-, and these guides may, as illustrated, be mounted upon rod"-.37- carried at the( front of the frame -1-, the guides being slidableupon the rod to and from each other, and adapted to be held in anydesired fixed relation by set screws, as illustrated,

Atthe rear of the roll there is provided a pair of spaced knives -38-and S9- slidably mounted upon shaft --tO- which carries the roll S3- andthese knives may be held in any desired relative spaced position uponthe shaft 4.0 in any suitable manner, as by set screws.

These knives may be of any suitable form and construction for cuttingoif the opposite respective edges of the curved strip as formed upon theplate -4 so as to reduce that strip to the desired width and produce astrip havingl even and sharply defined edges.

As here illustrated, the knife includes a bearing 1land a lever 4Q--pivoted to the bearing' and carrying a rotary knife o1 blade -4-3-normally spring-tensionerl toward the plate -lby means of spring Mconnected to one end of the lever into the bearing -41- as illustrated.

The shaft -45- that carries the roll' SLimay, as shown, be journaled insimilar blocks -t6- slidable in guide-ways formed in brackets -23- and-24- respectively, said blocks normally pressed toward the plate -ll bysprings 4T- backed up by adjustable screw members -48-- The roll S4-e ishere shown as not lyingz,r in a radius of the circular plate -ll-, butits exact disposition may be varied so long as it is disposed in such aposition that it will apply the curved rubber strip in ring form to theplate -lland in length is approximately equal to the radius of theplate, but it will be obvious that the roll may be of any desired lengthfor applying a strip of desired width to produce a blank of the propersize.

The roll or calender -32-, as shown, is radially disposed with respectto the heatable plate -1- and may be of any desired length and theplates --ftand -11- are preferably, as shown, of circular form and of adiameter sutlicient to permit the production of a curved strip of theradius desired for producingr a washer of desired diameter, and the rollmay be driven in any suitable manner, as by gear M$52-- mounted on shaft27- and meshing with gear on shaft -84- that drives pinion 12') -6-,pulley -5- heilig provided for that purpose.

ln the structure here illustrated, there is shown a cylindrical roll-32- for rolling a curved strip upon the heatable plate --'i. 125

However, this roll need not be of the shape shown, but may be o-ftapered or conical form with its smaller end toward the center of theplate -4- or the roll may be concave or convex, as desired. Thecylindrical 130 Lacasse roll, however, has this feature of advantagethat its outer portion has a more rapid relative movement with respectto plate -4- than does its inner portiony whereby a mixing action of thecrude or compounded rubber isr e'i'ected, and an improved washerproduced.

Preferably in feeding crude rubber between the heatable plate 4 and thecalender -32- a section of the desired length is cut 'olf from acylindrical roll of sheet rubber and the piece so cut ofi' from the:ylindrical rollis fed endwise of the cylindrical section between theplate H? and the calender -32.-. This method has the advantage thatwhereas thev grain of the original sheet ran lengthwise of the sheet byrolling in the opposite direction, i. e., endwis'e of the cylindricalsection, a grain is produced perpendicular to the original grain of thesheet and extending lengthwise of the curved strip as formed upon theplate 4M whereby the stock in the curved strip is in an improved andstronger condition.

The operation of this machine in a general way is as 'follows:-

The crude or compounded rubber is fed in between the guides-- and #3G-and is rolled and perhaps mixed between the heated plate land thecalender 3% to form a curved strip of approximately the desired widthand of the desired thickness. As the strip emerges from the roll-3% byreason of the rotation of plate -dfit is cut to the eXactuwidth by meansof the knives B8- and -39-. The strip indicated in dotted lines on theplate 4lin Figure l is carried around to the roll 33- and moves upwardlyaround the roll and downwardly between roll 3&- and plate llV and isrolled in ring form upon the surface of the plate -llin one or moreplies, dependent upon the required thickness of the `annular blank to beproduced.

' Altho l have shown and described a specie-construction of machineconstituting an embodiment of my invention, I do not desirev to restrictmyself to the details of the structure or the method of operationthereof, as various changes may be made without departing from theinventionas set forth in the appended claims.

.l claim:

l. An apiiaratus of` the character described `comprisimg means for.rolling a curved strip upon a plate, means for picking up the curvedstrip from the` plate, and means for rolling the same upon a secondplate to form an annular blank of desired thickness. 2. An apparatus ofthe character described comprising means for rolling crude or compoundedrubber in the form of a curved strip and additional means for rollingthe curved strip in ring form to produce an annular blank of desiredthickness.

An apparatus of the character described comprising a heatable plate,inea .s for *rotating .theV plate, a calender for cooperation with theheatable plate, and a second heat-able plate for receiving` a curvedstrip of rubber rolled upon the first plate.

d. An apparatus of the character described comprising means for rollingcrude or compounded rubber in the form of a curved strip and additionalmeans for forming a curved strip into an annular blank of the desirednumber of plies.

An apparatus of the character described comprising` a heatable plate,means for rotating the plate, a roll at one side of the center of theplate and adopted to cooperate with the plate in the production of acurved strip of rubber, a second heatable plate, means for rotating theplate and means for applying the curved strip of rubber formed on thefirst plate to the surface f nular'blank of the desired number of plies.

(t An apparatus of the character described comprising a heatable plate,means for rotating the plate, a roll at one side of the center of theplate and adapted to cooperate with the plate in the production of acurved strip of rubber, knives for shaping the opposite edges of therubber strip, a second heatable plate, means for rotating the plate, andmeans for applying the curved strip of rubber formed on the first plateto the surface of the second plate in the form of an annular blank ofthe desired number of plies.

7. In an apparatus of the class described two rotary heatable plateshaving` their axes of rotation disposed at substantially right angles. Y

8. In an apparatus of the class described, two rotary hollow plates, oneof the same rotatable about a vertical axis and the other rotatableabout a horizontal axisl and means for 'rotating the plates.

9. In an Azuiparatus of the class described, two rotary heatable plates,a calender for cooperating with one of said plates for producing acurved strip of rubber of desired thickness, and means for applying theformed curved strip to the other plate in the forni of an annular blankof the de-' sired number of plies.

l0. In an apparatus of ythe class dcscribefha plate, means for heatingthe plate, means for rotating the plate, a calender cooperating witlrthe plate for producing a curved rubber strip of the desiredV thickness.neans for shaping the opposite edges of the strip, a roll disposedadjacent the surface ofthe plate, a second plate, means for heating thesecond plate, a roll disposed ad jacent the second plate and adapted tore# ceive the strip from the first-named roll and Aof the second platein the form of an ann u apply it te the Secund pluie in the forni of :inannular bla-nl: ef the desired number ef plies.

l1. The method 01? ealendering, which Consists in ealendering the stockin the foi-1n of a continuous helical strip and assembling the strip ona revolving support, the supporting Surface of which is :L plane.

12. In a calender, conical calendering` rollsv` u revouble support inreceive the enlendererl nmteriul. n 'pre ure roll :lering mi theenlendered steek en said support, :iemuting' means for said rolls, andactuating; means for said support.

In witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand this 19th day ofSeptember, 1924.

CHARLES F. FENLASON, Jn.

